Guatemalan Tamales – Tamales Guatemaltecos

Guatemalan Tamales Video (scroll down for recipe)

Part two in my Christmas Around the World series! Christmas in Guatemala, focus on: TAMALES!

Guatemalan tamales are quite different from the Mexican tamales you may be more familiar with. These tamales are wrapped in banana leaves for one thing, which imparts a grassy floral scent, and they are two or three times larger than tamales made in corn husks. One of these tamales is probably enough for a meal on its own!

These are fairly labor and time intensive, so I suggest you plan to spend half a day making them. The sauce (recado) must be made first — it’s a thick, mole-like salsa of tomatoes, chiles, pepitas and sesame seeds — and you can make it a few days ahead of time if you like, to save time on the Day of Tamales. The masa for these is thinner than that used in Mexican tamales and the fillings are typically pork or chicken with additional touches of capers, olives, raisins, bacon, and bell pepper. You can customize them as you like.

Make the salsa first. Place tomatoes and garlic all on a baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes or until very roasted. (if you want to roast your bell pepper for the filling, halve it and roast it now, too)

Toast the dried chiles on a heavy skillet for a few seconds until fragrant. Cut out stems, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside.

In the same dry skillet, toast the seeds and cinnamon stick for a few seconds until nutty. Put into blender container.

Pulse a few times to make a coarse powder.

Now add the roasted tomatoes and garlic, soaked chiles (discard the soaking liquid) and half a cup of the chicken broth. Blend. Add more broth if necessary to make a thick, smooth salsa. It should be about the consistency of a milkshake.

Strain through a fine sieve and set aside.

For the masa, combine the masa harina and water in a large pot. Use a whisk to remove lumps. Bring to boil, stirring, then simmer 10 minutes until thickened. Add the lard, oil, and salt. Stir and cook over low heat another 10 minutes. It should be about the consistency of porridge. Set aside.

Cut the banana leaves into squares about 12x8 inches. Bring a large, wide pot of water to boil and blanch the leaves one at a time for about 45 seconds each. Use tongs to help get them completely immersed in the water. Stack on a plate and cover with a damp cloth.

To fold tamales:

Lay a banana leaf on a clean flat surface. Plop about ¾ cup masa into the center of it. Top that with about ¼ cup of the salsa and a piece of pork. Arrange any other fillings you like in the center of the masa and spoon a little more salsa over the top. Fold the side closest to you over the masa, and bring the side farthest from you towards yourself so that you end up with a long, skinny rectangle. Fold one long end under, then pick up the package like an ice cream cone and give it a little tap to get filling settled. Fold other long end over. Set aside

(If banana leaf cracks, wrap the package in a sheet of foil.)

Line a very large pot with the imperfect banana leaves and add about an inch of water. Stack tamales inside, seams down.

Other Guatemalan Recipes

Pastel de tres leches is claimed by many Latin American countries and is often made for special occasions, such as Christmas.

Rellenitos

This video (in Spanish) demonstrates a dessert made from ripe plantains. They are boiled in their peels with a cinnamon stick for 15-20 minutes, then peeled and mashed into a puree. The filling is pureed black beans, sugar, cinnamon and occasionally chocolate that is cooked together then cooled. Shape the plantain “dough” with oiled hands into discs about 1/3″ thick and 4-5 inches across. Fill with a small amount of the beans and fold over, pressing to seal the beans inside and form it into a torpedo shape. Fry in hot oil until browned on all sides. Once crisp, drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar!

Comments

While using the banana leaves, hold the rough side (or the back side) to an open flame for about less than half a second and move fast till you cover the entire leaf. It will slightly change colour, and it will not tear. I am from Bangalore, South India, and in our cuisine we use banana leaves quite often 🙂

Hi Hilah, I’m from Guatemala and I found your tamale recipe pretty much spot on. The consistency of the masa looks a lot like that of the tamales my grandmother makes, and so does the color of the recado. One advice though, next time you make them try adjusting the proportions of masa vs salsa when you assemble them. The ones we eat here are about 40% recado and 60% masa (a LOT of recado). But either way, good job!! These are hard to make.

Thank you so much, Maria! It’s really good to hear I was close with these tamales. That makes sense, too, since I always had quite a bit of recado left over. It’s so good, I just ate it on rice, though 😉

Thank you SO much for posting this recipe. My husband is from Guatemala and we have always adored the tamales. We have to drive 2 hours to be able to buy them.
We will be attempting to make these this year!

Oh fantastic, Melissa! I hope y’all have fun making these. The banana leaves can be unwieldy and a little frustrating so be sure you’re both in a good mood before you start 😉 and have some snacks and drinks ready. It’s kind of a long process, but definitely rewarding! 🙂

Hello, I married into a Guatemalan family and fell in love with the food immediately. I’ve always been told that are labor intensive but still want to make them. I will be trying your recipe as they look very much like what I’m used to. I love to cook and have impressed the family with my own recipes but this is sure to grab attention. Having said that, not only does your recipe seem accurate but you were fun to watch and made it less intimidating for sure. I love the occasional crap or ass that slips out! Thank you

Hi, Im from Guatemala, I did tamales once with my grandma… I live now in Australia and was looking for recipes… I cant find achiote… do you know another name for it, and the other thing is can you write down the name of the Chiles instead of chile Guaque? Please!
Then… I hope I can find banana leafs.
Thank you very much… and I will send you a picture of my tamales if you want to! 😀

Very pleased that you like our tamales 😀 <3
all though our recado is a little bit red, not orange, but maybe is the effect of the other chiles… even do I love the effort to wrap them in banana leafs… really makes a big difference! Thank you, thank you!!! God bless you big time!

Hi Lilian!
Annatto is another name for achiote. I don’t know another name for the guajillo chiles, but you could maybe substitute dried New Mexico or California chiles, or cascabels. You might have to order them online from a spice shop. I’ve heard from other people in Australia that chiles are hard to get there.
Also check the frozen section of the store for the banana leaves.
Hope you make them and please send me a picture!
<3
Hilah

Hi I was born in Guatemala and I have been in the US for 45 years and sadly all the old recipes are being lost as the older generations pass away. Your video inspired me to learn how to make them and pass on this tradition to my kids. Great job. Thanks.

Hello, just wanted to thank you for the tamale recipe. My husband is from Guatemala and he tried making them last year for Christmas. they didn’t turn out so well. I used your recipe this year and made mesa tamales and potato tamales with it. my husband was overjoyed and thought they tasted as good if not better than home. If you can find a recipe for Paches, which is potato tamales. you should try them. they are wonderful. again thank you and happy New Year.

Made the RELLENITOS and my Guatemalan husband said “I’ll never tell my mom this, but yours were better”. I used abuelita chocolate. The hardest part was the plantanos sticking to my hand while in torpedo shaping mode. I sprayed Pam on my hands each torpedo;). Once they cooled they disappeared! I never even had time to sprinkle the sugar. Next will be the tamales. Thanks for making me look like a rockstar! Rosie

Hello, when my Aunt visited from Guatemala she would make tamales & she did 3 different type one from harina, one from potato, & one from rice. I really love the ones made from potato. unfortunately she does not visit as often as she did. I’m go to try your recipe with my wife and later try substituting the harina with the other two. thanks

It’d be amazing if you are awake this early. I’m about to make these but I realized you talk about Annato in the video but the recipe doesn’t have it listed! 🙁 how much do we put in?? And already in a powder or in the little seed form?

Hi, I’m Hilah!

I create short-form, educational, and occasionally hilarious cooking videos geared towards beginner and intermediate cooks, as well as people who are just looking for simple, low-cost recipes. Everything is made from scratch, people! Read More…